I Made It!

The last couple of weeks, I kept telling myself, "You just have to get to Thanksgiving." So this morning I breathe a little sigh of relief and relax knowing that I made it. Thanksgiving is an odd holiday for us. I have heard several people say what a relaxing holiday it is for them. There are so little expectations. Basically you visit and eat. Some people go to the movies. Some look through the ads for the next day's sales. But there isn't much you have to do. It is the same for us, but it has a bit of history to it. When we married, we decided that Easter would be with my husband's family, and Thanksgiving would be with mine. Seldom have we had to abide by that decision, since we haven't lived nearby family very often. My family doesn't do much for Easter, Hubby's celebrates both holidays equally well; so it wasn't a difficult dilemma. That, of course, is all my opinion. From my husband's perspective it was a huge sacrifice. Here is why: When we were first dating, my family asked if I wanted to invite Hubby to Thanksgiving dinner. I invited and he accepted. First, you need to know that it was an impromptu event as family arrived unexpectedly. So we ate sloppy joes. Yes, you read that right; we had sloppy joes for Thanksgiving dinner. My husband's family has the traditional fare: turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, lima beans, and pie, especially blackberry. So he felt let down and disappointed to have given it up for sloppy joes. I am thinking that it wasn't such a terrible disappointment since he did continue to date me, and just a few short months later proposed. But I have heard about this incident for the last 20 years! As time has gone by, and we have lived in many places, Thanksgiving has meant many different types of celebrations. We have celebrated with International Students in West Texas (eating cornbread dressing for the first time), travelling to Sedona, AZ to celebrate with friends in a gorgeous setting, attending my first child's baby shower, once or twice my family travelled to us, spending the day with a friend at her family farm (eggs in the gravy were new to me here), and more often than not, just getting together locally with friends. In this town, we have always been blessed to share Thanksgiving at someone else's house, so we enjoy lying around all morning watching the Macy's parade, and then going to eat at someone else's house. I have always tried to make sure there are limas and blackberry pie wherever we have attended so that Hubby isn't too distressed. This year my family is meeting at my parents' house to eat together. They're having spaghetti. ------------ I told this story to my mother recently, and she did not remember it at all. When I left WV a couple of weeks ago, she sent a present to my husband...a can of Manwich.